The bill will come due for Riders big-money moves

A legendary, 34-year-old pass rusher who was just traded to the Saskatchewan Roughriders, Hughes can also take a substantial chunk out of his new CFL team’s growing payroll.

Calgary Stampeders general manager John Hufnagel admitted Hughes no longer fit under his team’s CFL-mandated $5.2-million salary cap, so the 10-year veteran was dealt to the Hamilton Tiger-Cats for draft choices and subsequently flipped to Saskatchewan for third-string quarterback Vernon Adams. Hufnagel said trading Hughes was difficult emotionally, a thought that reverberated Wednesday throughout social media when the six-time West all-star donned Riders green for the first time at a media conference.

Hughes is evidently excited about playing the other end of Saskatchewan’s defensive line with Willie Jefferson, who might now be the CFL’s best defensive player. The Roughriders rely primarily on three- and four-man pass rushes, so being able to deploy two of the all-time best defensive ends simultaneously is quite a coup. Despite missing four games because of injuries, Hughes got 11 sacks in 2017 to give him a career total of 99.

With the addition of a player who makes approximately $150,000, the Roughriders are creeping closer to that cap. Teams exceeding the cap are subject to monetary fines and, in extreme cases, lose draft choices and negotiation-list players. No CFL team has been punished more for exceeding the cap than the community-owned Roughriders, who recently acquired quarterback Zach Collaros. He had been the league’s highest-paid player before taking a $110,000 haircut from his $540,000 annual salary, according to Justin Dunk’s earlier reports on 3DownNation.com.

Saskatchewan also re-upped Jefferson and last year’s outstanding player, wideout Duron Carter, after getting backup quarterback Brandon Bridge to re-sign a better deal. Roughriders boss Chris Jones told the team’s website his team paid less than $500,000 for its four quarterbacks last season. That’s noticeably less than the Tiger-Cats paid for Collaros, who became expendable after losing eight starts and becoming a backup to Jeremiah Masoli.

Last year’s starting quarterback, Kevin Glenn, was recently released by the Roughriders. They have also lost linebacker Jeff Knox and Kacy Rodgers to NFL teams. And they continue making cost-cutting moves, such as dumping running back Kienan Lafrance hours before he was due a substantial contract bonus.

It’s all part of the gamesmanship needed to abide by the CFL’s cap, which is officially known as the Salary Management System and applies only to players. CFL teams can spend as much as they want on coaches, administrators, scouting, tryouts, training camps, facilities and any other football-related expenses. But when a roster has numerous high-priced veterans such as offensive lineman Derek Dennis and Brendon LaBatte, linebacker Henoc Muamba and receivers Chad Owens, Bakari Grant and Rob Bagg under contract, they have to make moves like Hufnagel did with Hughes in Calgary.

Doesn’t like the riders but has season tickets ok. Again anyone who DARES questioning anything the riders do is labeled a hater,troll or whatever else. Some of you rider fans should get a green kool-aid iv and walk around with it 24/7.

You reek of jealousy and dismay for what’s coming your way. You reek of hatred for that of which you are not. The Riders are trending and that just means millions more in the pot. Soon we’ll get our own jet and rent it to you guys, and maybe you can upgrade the travelling gym you call a training room.

That’s actually quite funny, coming from the only CFL city whose “international” airport doesn’t even have US pre-clearance. Don’t worry though, we’ll let you land your little puddle-hopper here on your way out to pick up Dennis and your other overpaid internationals down south so you can get your paperwork in order.

Are you kidding me? I was at the Riders Lions game in BC in August 2017. I saw hundreds of rider jerseys downtown that day and at the game it was easily 25% Riders fan.

By the way, it was a Pathetic attendance of around 10,000 which was the Lions best attendance of the year (typical, Riders were there). They don’t even open the upper seating. If Riders didn’t play at least one game a year in BC I don’t think the team could afford to sweep the locker rooms once a year.

I’ll bet there’s more Riders fans in BC than Lions fans. Not surprising though, you’re more of a soccer kind of place aren’t you?

Davis wasn’t crapping on the Riders. He’s simply pointing out they are up against it. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a few more well known players released for the Riders in the coming days, especially of they plan to be active in free agency.

Brian that’s all Davis ever does is write how the Riders are up against it.
He works for a Radio Station that wants to be the home and voice of the Riders. They have been turned down numerous times. They lose out to another station and the rivalry and his dislike towards the team is obvious in everything he does. I can’t think of 1 article he’s written that was positive since I moved to SK. He’s a semi retired bitter little man.

His station wasnt really turned down , its just that the station who broadcasts the sliders games OVERPAID to get the rights just as the sliders have to overpay players just to come play in sliderville

Well, Joe, if you can find me an article where a former Riders player is quoted as happy to be out of that place, I’ll show you five where players say they’re happy to be there, and two where they are willing to play there for less $$ than their last team.

The only question is, which player or coach did the Riders snag from your dumpster fire squad (I hate to use the word “team”)?

Go Green (puke) your slider brain is under developed. You think it should say you’re (you are) slider fans aren’t very good when it comes to numbers?
Leave the grammar to the rest of Canada and the people who went to school past grade 4.

We’ll soon see how smart it was to sign Collaros to over $400,000 despite the ‘haircut’. Paying one player at the expense of others and/or exceeding the cap is going to come back to bite the Riders, especially when his play has taken a severe downward trajectory.

Wow you suffer from Rider delight. You must really struggle to in life to make such usual comments on each story. Missing the playoffs will do that I guess. Maybe pick a new team because the lions are going to be bottom feeders again this year.

Actually that is a good point I forgot to consider , re the Adams trade, esp!!! So your right much ado about virualy nothing !!! speculating Glenn at say 250K / Adams at 150 K your RIGH that is 400K geee not bad math for a bunch of Rider fans that according to other posters don’t know much about math !! Guess to them and people like DAVIS players formerly on the Roster still count against the Rider cap !!!lol

Quit your crying. In the 90s, if you add up paid salaries, Riders are in the Millions behind teams. Calgary paid Flutie almost 4,5 million in 4 seasons. The rich owners cried for a one player exception. We followed the cap while everyone was buying chanpionships. If you call going over by 17 grand buying a cup, you are dull- witted. I say screw the cap. Spend an extra 500 thousand. It’s our turn to blow everyone out in salaries. If you don’t like it too bad. Your teams played that way first. Our franchise survived that BS back then. Any other franchise would have folded thier tents. We survived that and now are receiving the rewards with a great stadium, continued and new support. If you hypocrites don’t like that, then take your cups away because you never were even close to playing on an even and fair field.

It’s not about revenge child. It’s about fair play. You have no idea what revenge means to me.
Are you a Bomber or Calgary fan? Actually the Bombers exceeded the cap the most in dollar amounts. Your other post is wrong…….again. What drives you? Hate?
Whois your team? I guarantee you read and comment 50 times more on the Riders. I bet you wake up screaming the Riders are hiding under your bed. To bad hate consumes your life so much. Tell us your team. Or are you ashamed?

More Rider fan garbage. If the Stamps or even the Bombers as you claim have been over the cap why is it the Riders have been the only team fined for breaking the cap… coincidently enough both times were years they won the cup. Makes you wonder if they still would’ve if they hadn’t cheated

AMEN Brother !!!! But the Haters will still refuse to acknowledge THIER YEARS And YEARS and YEARS of Cap fudging— buying CHAMPIONSHIPS , you have to realize its only the RIDERS in the history of SPORT that ever have been over a professional sports leagues salary cap !!! YEP those darn cheating Saskatchewan Roughriders only team in all of sport history EVER to exceed a salary cap !!!! They must be disbanded for such insane folly !!!

Nope signifies that they are a financially successful franchise that now has bought into the idea of DO WHAT EVER it take sot WIN!!! that other sport franchises have used for years, !!!! Our only fault is that we in Sak thought that ALL teams followed a level playing field and didn’t hide player and a personal contract slaries plus other kinds of violations to get player signed!!! Yeap so be mad at us Dim whitted backward Saskies all you want for getting into the way the game is played in the current sports world. The only reson other teams don’t exceed as due to CHEAP assed owners wanting to make personal profits or minimize personal losses form their toy franchises !!! GO get mad at your owners not the RIDERS

Collaros at $400k is in the ballpark that starters get paid, obviously he needs to bounce back and earn it this year. Also, to have a vet like Hughes at $150k really isn’t obscene. For anyone gleefully predicting the Riders blowing past the cap I’d suggest you come back to reality.

NAw Brady is to old , lol we gassed KEvin at 38, and besides , Brady wouldt be able to throw a CFL bigger ball probably at al well, did you follow DEFLATE -GATE AT ALL ?????? Bradeys tiney little hands wer well documented, lol , I am sure Craft is complaining to the NFL currently that the ball has to be smaller so TOM wont fumble at a crutial time when he GETS CRUSHED again !!!! n a game !!! Hmmm seems like he would be a good match for Bo Peep this year , kind of massive CHOKE in the moment kind of guys this YEAR !!!! HE was even crying like BO Peep !!! after the game !!! and certainly has the same scence of entitelment as Bo Peep!!!

The biggest choke job and embarrassment in Grey Cup history belongs to the sliders when they had too many men on the field and lost the cup.I am still laughing to this day what a joke they were and still are for a franchise,I wonder if when the CFL hands out another franchise if Sask will get a CFL team.

Hides his face and cries. lol. The worst night of my Rider cheering days. I remember i just layed on the floor of Boston Pizza for like 20 mins. Are you serious about another team here? I dont think theres near enough ppl in the area. Everyone from Stoon is a Rider fan.

Man TB didnt choke… The rest of the Pats (mostly D) did. TB threw for over 500 yards and 3 TDs. you can say the Pats choked but it wasn’t Tom. Although why the F*CK they would throw to him is beyond me. He is paid to throw the ball. Smh. lol

You are delusional. The man set a NFL all time record for most yards thrown in a SB game…at 40 years of age! I’ll be in Atlanta next year watching him hoist his 6th SB while Nick Fools and the rest of his Eagles are nowhere to be found as they won’t even make the PO’s (provided he’s still with the team).

Its comments like this that are the reason the other fans despise the Riders and their fans. The arrogance of your statements are just astounding. By the sounds of it the other 8 teams are privileged to get the opportunity to play the omnipotent Riders. Get real

Hopefully in 2018 lol,lol,lol keep dreaming as you win 4 cups in 104+ years so once every 26 years,and you last won it in 2013 so you won’t win again until 2039,nice dream though lol go back to sleep and dreaming as we will wake you up in 2039 when it is your turn again

Ok, I will not rant, rave, or use poor grammar. I am a life long CFL fan, cheered for the Riders when lancaster and the boys blew it. I am also a Bomber fan, for the same amount of time. And, yes, labour day and banjo bowl are schitzo days for me. My point is, if the Riders exceed the cap, they get fined, simple. Easy. Maybe they have auto dealerships handing out “demo” cars or suv’s or trucks, all teams do that.
The Riders will either come under the cap, by releasing players, or go over, and pay the fine. Chris Jones has THIS year to prove his point, his worth, and keep his job. He will sell daughters and sacrifice sons to the football gods to win.
Which is what he was hired, and is being paid, to do.

The big question is if he is selling the future of the Riders down the tubes, for short term gain and his own advancement? Coach Jones has no shortage of ego, and those who follow him.He knows he has to produce at least a cup appearance or win to keep his numerous titles and salaries.
I can think of a few teams who have done well with a super defensive line, no QB can make a pass from his butt. But, if the pass gets off, and the secondary sucks, well, you get the picture. I foresee lots of fireworks this year around the riders, and, as always, coach Jones will be the spotlight.
My question is, will there be anything left after the big hurrrah and the smoke has cleared?

You seem like a serious commenter so I’ll give you a serious answer. Yes. There is nothing Jones is doing that will mortgage our future. We’ve had that situation in Riderville in the not too distant past so we know what it looks like. That was back in the days when upper management was handing out massive contracts to players like Getzlaf, Clark, Dressler and Chick, all at least 50% more than they were worth, and probably more than that. This not only killed our cap space it also killed the value of our assets. When the new regime came in and had to clean up the mess these players had no trade value, because they were so ridiculously overpaid, so they had to be released, although Clark did re-resign at a lower number. These contracts didn’t even serve the interests of the team in the short term. They were just a way to put large amounts of money into certain pockets.

With the possible exception of Collaros, who may still be a bit overpaid but is only on a one year contract, this team doesn’t have any wildly overpaid players, and we have a tonne of good young talent coming up. Even if Hughes for some reason didn’t pan out we have good young players coming up behind him. Hughes’ experience and clutch play ability could be the difference in a playoff game, however, and that’s why you pick up players like this, but there’s nothing about this pickup that mortgages our future. And we haven’t even seen Jones’ next batch of recruits. He’s been working his butt off this off season running camps and we’re going to have a whole new wave of players coming up. So while we are “going all in” on this season, Jones can restock the bankroll every year, so the future looks just as bright, just as it always does for Hufnagel and did for Buono. I’m sure with Jones we’ll be able to pretty much go all in every year. Jones’ ability to find talent and get the most out of it = sustainability.

So that’s new. I made a post, a stand alone post not responding to anyone, between this one and my “testing testing” post. It went through and was displayed and people have replied to it, but now it shows the, “Your comment is awaiting moderation.” line. That’s happened to me before but always when I made the post, not after it had been successfully posted. Maybe Davis didin’t like it and flagged it himself? That would be telling! Anyway, I’m going to try re-posting it by linking it to this post. The post also contained an L word, and in case that was the justification for blocking it I’ll use a different phrase, otherwise it will be the same post.

Repost:
Yet another article that makes you wonder how much attention Davis even pays to the CFL anymore. But of course we all know by now that it doesn’t really matter whether he follows the league or not, because it wouldn’t change the theme of his articles at all. He sold his soul years ago, and these days his articles are 100% agenda driven, 100% propaganda. Never forget that with every word he writes he’s serving his hidden agenda. So here he’s clearly digging for names to try to come up with a list to support his suggestion that the Riders have a roster full of high priced players, and because he doesn’t have enough actual high priced players to refer to he grasps for the names of Chad Owens, Bakari Grant and Rob Bagg. None of these players will be on cheap rookie contracts of course, but suggesting that they’re high priced is a stretch, or in Davis’ case a fabrication.

Owens was once a high priced player but after a string of injury shortened seasons he was 33, a FA, and rehabbing another injury when the Riders signed him. His is probably a mid range contract at best, and since he hasn’t played more than 13 games in a season since 2012 he’s also not likely to play a full season this year either. Like last year, however, I hope he’s healthy for the playoff run. He’s still a great player when healthy and he was huge for us down the stretch last year.

Grant had a very solid year for us last year with over 1,000 yards, but those who pay attention to the CFL – iow not Davis – will know that it was the first 1,000 yard season of his career. Last year with Calgary he had 625 yards, and they didn’t re-sign him, so it’s highly unlikely that we signed him to a “high priced contract”. Mid range again for him I would say.

Bagg is in some ways the heart and soul of this team, but he’s never been a star. He’s generally put up between 400 and 800 yards per year. He’s a Canadian and a long time Rider so it wouldn’t surprise me if he’s making more than the other two, but probably not much more, and certainly not a high priced contract. As a side note, he was always better than Getzlaf, but Getzlaf was the Regina boy with the connections, and in the Hopson/Tillman/Taman era that meant you got paid waaaaay above your worth. Getzlaf had a contract of over $200k. No I’m not kidding, and he wasn’t the only one. Two 1,000 yard seasons in his whole career with the top one being 1,071, bad drops and bad offside penalties galore, but a $200k contract. That’s what happens when the old back room cronies get control of the team, that and much worse. And as long as we’re on the topic of Davis I suspect that this is who he’s really serving.

So, back to the article. Davis is “deliberately not telling the truth”. That’s hardly news at this point, and he’s serving his agenda as he does with every one of his articles. Same old, same old.

Only 1 error I can find in your comment , that being Dennis IMO is unfortunately a this point performance based , Overpaid as well. Hopefully he will take a bit of a contract bite before all is said and done , and play better this season !!!Opps maybe two errors , Chad Owen is also dangerously close to falling into the Over paid for production bracket as well: but hopefully he will spend the majority of his time on the injured list again this season and be a secret weapon option come playoff time . I think he will be on roster at seasons start due to his familiarity with Collaros, and be a safety blanket to try and restart Collaroses effectiveness. Depending on how that goes Owen could soon find himself on IR or simply cut !!

DDs blogs are so whiny and pompous as to be impossible to even read the first few sentences. I imagine his posts are as hard to read as it is to listen to his whiny, holier than thou pontifications on the GreenZone.

Davis is lying? Because he gives his opinion and puts it in writing, he is lying? But your opinion is the God’s honest truth? Give me a break. I suspect that Davis’s opinion is a far more educated than is yours. And Davis has an agenda. Of course he has an agenda. It is called a job. He is paid to write stories and give his opinion on the Riders. What is your agenda? Apparently to defend all things Jones and Riders. Davis is only opining what a lot of us have been thinking, that the Riders have a lot of big salaries on board. You point to some players from the past who were over paid. The same is true now also. Take Derek Dennis at $200,000 and was a total bust at left tackle last year. Way too much to pay an American left guard. Labatte is good but is also reportedly making well over 200,000. Collaros at $430,000 and don’t forget that is hard money and he is 0 and 12. I won’t go on but there as many highly paid, probably overpaid players now as ever. If your opinion is that the Riders are fine, okay, but to call Davis a liar because his opinion differs from yours, is wrong. I like reading articles from Davis because he is often more open minded and realistic than others, such as Pederson, who always has the Riders in first place. I am not here to read fairy tales. Also, for some of you, it doesn’t matter if a team is filthy rich or dirt poor, they have the same salary cap. And remember that one of those dirt poor teams won the Grey Cup last year.

And just what in Davis’s article is an out and out lie? I know the difference but do you? You can neither prove or disprove an opinion. Only time determines whether that opinion is right or wrong. A lie can be disproven with facts. Davis is stating his opinion that there are some dangers in signing too many high priced players. His opinion. Agree or disagree. That does not make him a liar, only someone who thinks differently than you.

Man , your hatred toward the riders is SO twisted that you only believe an article written by a Saskatchewan based ANTI-Rider fan. Davis yeap prob has tickets and sits with his family because UNLIKE DDhhsi kids are porbably normal Saskachewn kids that are true Rdier fans and love to go to games !!! Davis realizes he would like a total JA if he didn’t at least sit with his KIDs at aa game !!!
ON to other matters: The Collaros hard money tom which you refer to may have a number of conditional clauses in the contract that while making it certain that Zac gets his full 400+ k , not all might apply to the salary cap . For example a clause might exist that enables the Riders to suspend or outright release Collaros from the playing roster if his play is in the toilet. As not on the roster an $$$ paid ot Collarios would I believe not count to the salary cap if he was for example retained or rehired as a non playing Qb consultant after he was CUT. One can legitimately assume every team cheats to some extent regarding the salary Cap issues, if they can afford it . I cite for example the salary GAME the tiger Cats played last season in the Fantuz matter with the CFL, having Fantuz around the team as a Consultant ?? his salary not applying to the Cap, but once he was healthy he MAGICALLY was added to the ROSTER !!! YEAH RIGHT its only the RIDERS that play SALARY cap games !!!!! in the CFL. It is amazing to me that fan s of other teams have such a holier then THOU selective memory when it come to their teams being squeaky clean and honorable !!!! Such BS form these fans bases it makes me ILL !!!

There doesn’t have to be a special agreement for that. Any player that is on the six game injury list, for the full six games, or is cut, that salary does not go against the cap. If he is on the roster for the whole season, then it is all against the salary cap, signing bonus included. As it was reported, there were no performance bonuses.

Bottom line…win at all costs, baby. Spy, cheat, lie. There’s nothing “sporting” about sport anymore. As a longtime Rider fan, I’m glad we’re not suffering the indignities of the loveable loser 70’s and early 80’s anymore. Honesty and fair play be damned!

Amen!!! in the attributed words of Bill Belecheck, ‘ if your not cheating your not trying ‘ **** 6 super bowls later all BIll is worried about is buying polish for his RINGS and how his NFL HAll of Fame jacket will fit !!!

You’re right Darrell, I mean what has Chris Jones and company really accomplished. Oh yeah, taken them from the basement to a third and five play away from a Grey Cup appearance. Shored up a horrible defense, replaced defensive stalwarts such as Macho Harris and Junior Mertile. Brought in a MOP caliber Quarterback. Did the sarcasm come across?

Um and did the 2nd place Bombers even PLAY in a conference final THIS year ???? 28 years and counting is it , soooon to be 29 !!!! Ahh well your team has hope , the EAGLES endured 58 so your team has a while to go !!

I guess there’s nothing like talking about the Riders. Seems like a Rider story draws the attention of fans from coast-to-coast. Personally, I’m excited regarding the news of Charleston Hughes coming over to Saskatchewan. I think he’s a valuable addition on defense for the Saskatchewan Roughriders. Though it is a gamble, I like what I see with Zach Collaros coming over to the green and white. If Collaros should get his playing ability back from a few seasons ago, the Roughriders will feature one of the most dangerous passing attacks in the league — that much is guaranteed. As Darrel Davis mentioned, the Riders are trimming salary with the release of Kienan LaFrance and losses of Kacy Rogers and Chris Knox to the NFL. It will be interesting to see what other free agents will be allowed to walk away from the green and white. Let’s just say, exciting times are ahead for the Roughriders. I can hardly wait.

@ 89, correction, nobody cares about the Rider’s stories, however, the fun is in the messing with Rider’s fans. It’s akin to taking a box full of bees, shaking the crap out of it, then open the box just to see what happens!…..nothing but free entertainment all day……….shake shake shake….. and go

blue rules, I’m glad you find Roughrider stories that entertaining. Obviously, that tells me there’s not much to talk about your team. In fact, it must be rather boring for you. And really, this website constantly shows just how much support there is for the Riders. That’s also why (as you probably are aware of) there are so many stories devoted to the Riders and their faithful fans. Maybe someday you will be a Rider fan. Then you’ll always have something positive to talk about. Wouldn’t that be nice.

Thanks 89 for your concern, I’m not bored at all in Winnipeg we have this thing called hockey, its really sport played on ice and everything, they play 82 games plus pre & post season games it also spans 10 months, and just because people talk about something doesn’t mean it’s well supported, example when you see a train wreck you can’t help but to talk about it. As far as me becoming a Riders fan…. ya….. maybe some day…. likely when I grow old and senile like you, we can watch Rider game together and chew that oatmeal we had for breakfast yesterday and say things like “stupid ref” for calling a “too many men penalty” with no time left on the clock in a Grey Cup game.
In closing I’m a very positive person, thank you for your concern. I’ll let you go now, as I have a Jets game tonight and you have your train wreck to post about.
Keep in touch.

blue lags, don’t ever worry about getting old and senile. It will be an extreme homecoming should you ever grow up. And personally, I hope some day when I’m old and senile to say the blue bumbers actually won a Grey Cup. Wouldn’t that be nice.

And furthermore, blue lags, when I say it would be nice for the blue bummers to have won a Grey Cup, I’m referring to the fact of actually seeing them win a cup. Honestly, I could care less if a team won a Grey Cup in the ’50’s or ’60’s when I wasn’t around to observe it. Perhaps someday it would be a real treat for you to witness something like that just like your jets. Oh, well.

Jets making the playoffs this year too. Whoooop! Cmon now Blue, you’re usually pretty classy in these threads. Dont stoop to the level of these trollin fools. Lol Besides when it comes to Bombs and Riders, I think we can both admit we’re pretty evenly matched and the games in September will be some good ones!! Maybe see you come playoff time??

gee Philly Eagels , 1 championship in 58 years !!! by that standard the Riders are dong QUITE WELL , thankyou ! or in simpler terms its not the amount of championships one has ITS THE SIZE of the impact that matters , lol .

The Super Bowl didn’t exist prior to 1967, so it is, at best, Philly’s first championship in 51 years. Prior to that, they won the NFL Championship three times (’48, ’49, ’60), so they have a total of four NFL Championship titles in their 81-year history.

For the mathematically challenged, that would be equal to the number of CFL championship titles that Riders earned in 105 years.

What’s more, Philly exists in a league with 32 teams. Everything else kept equal, an average team *should* only win the NFL Championship two to three times in 81 years.

Saskatchewan, on the other hand, exists in a nine-team league. An average team in a nine-team league would be expected to have 11 or 12 CFL Championship titles in 105 years. The Riders, Like the Eagles, have four.

The size of the impact is what matters, eh? I guess that would mean that the only championship game that involved the Riders that really mattered was the 2009 Grey Cup. After all, it’s the only one anybody actually really ever cares about.

The haters gonna hate. It’s February, you idiots. Lots will happen before game one in June. A few big ticket players will be getting their pink slips or allowed to walk toward free agency. The Devon Bailey signing likely means Bagg and/or Demski will be on the outs. Dennis may as well. Depends on a potential Bruce Campbell signing or not.

If they bust the cap, or any team busts the cap, it’s another spoonful of dirt on the league. Concussions, another out-of-touch commissioner, an aging fan base — we don’t need cheating too.
Busting the cap is not punished nearly enough. A rich team basically gets to pay pennies for what can be a huge advantage (2 of the last 3 Grey Cup victories in Sask were the result of cheating, never mind the entire 1970s and 80s in Edmonton when there was an even weaker cap in place… “personal services contract” anyone?).
Jones has been a good boy since getting busted for all the roster violations in 2016 – would be a sad day if this last year of normalcy was a fluke.

Paul, c’mon, cheating? By being over the salary cap? I went through this before with another CFL fan. If you check the figures correctly on the internet, you will see the Roughriders in two of their Grey Cup victories were measely dollars over the salary cap. Not even the salary of one player. I can bring those figures out if you wish. But an average player salary of $80,000, the Roughriders were less than one quarter over that figure of $80,000 (being $20,000 or approximate) on the team’s salary cap. That’s how close it was. Furthermore, other teams have ventured over the salary cap as well. And roster bonuses (that don’t add to the salary cap figure) are hidden by all teams. Look at the Edmonton Eskimos with Adarius Bowman. He was due for a sizeable bonus. Age and a down year contributed to Bowman being released. And I know the Roughriders are doing the same thing as Edmonton, Winnipeg, etc. Look, there are far worse examples of cheating. Consider Spygate, created by the New England Patriots and most recently, Deflategate and Headphone Gate by the above-named team. And you don’t think other teams were doing the same thing as the Patriots? The salary cap was created because it brought a level playing field for cash-strapped teams to compete with richer teams.

Amen , but again don’t try to reason with other fan bases by bring out common fact etc!!! Some people just need to have a team to hate !!! I admittedly certainly have a HUGE dislike for Calgary especially , sometimes it takes great fortitude to keep ones mouth closed when feeling a hated ememy is gaining advantage over MY favorite team!!

I believe that performance bonuses are part of the salary cap. That is why teams are releasing players to avoid paying the bonuses. By having a bonus due in January or February, the bonuses go against this year’s cap. When they cut the player rather than pay the bonus, they have opened up cap space for the coming season.

Actually, it only makes sense for bonuses to go against the upcoming season’s cap for a team because that actually makes the cap enforceable.

Many players receive signing bonuses in their first year with a team – if the rule was that those signing bonuses went against the prior year’s cap, then that would give teams a pretty huge “out” to game the system, because any team could sign a player and pay them up-front to avoid the current year’s salary cap. The league would have a hard time enforcing a retroactive salary cap.

Hes in the book under creative accounting. common knowledge!! Riders had a second team practicing of 30 players. Caught and paid fine but didn’t count against salary cap. 3 players coming and 3 going each week. BUT if your not cheating your not trying
Almost all teams pay housing allowance that should be included in salary cap. Richer teams can do this as they a new shoe box of extra money they just found. Cheers

No need to worry. They will find a extra shoe box filled with the extra $400,000. There accounting team will report a few errors made but still under budget $62,000. BUT they might have to cancel their
second team this year?? Unless they find another shoe
box.

I know this was not the main point of your story Mr. Davis, but to refer to Jefferson as one of the all time great DEs in league history is incredibly short sighted and premature. He is good, no doubt among if not the best playing right now, but he has been in the league less than three full seasons. This is a league that has had DEs such as Quick Parker, Greg Stumon, Junior Ah You, Greg Marshall, Jim Corrigall, Vincent Goldsmith, Cameron Wake, Angelo Snipes, John Bowman, Grover Covington and Anwar Stewart just to name a few. As good as he may be, Jefferson needs to play a few more year at an extremely high level to be conidered on the same plain as these greats.

THIS POST IS FOR RIDER FANS EYES ONLY!!!! Guys. Seriously stop saying ppl are jealous of the Riders. They’re not. especially Stamps fans. The Stamps are better than the Riders Consistently… And until we prove otherwise, just stop. Believe it or not, the Riders aren’t the only team in the CFL and everyone cheers for their own team. So until we win a cup…? There is nothing to be jealous of.